Wear Red Day: Heart Disease Number 1 Cause of Death in Women

Wear Red Day -- The first Friday of February is National Wear Red Day. On this day, men and women are encouraged to wear red as a symbol of their support of women’s heart health.

Observe National Wear Red Day

People wear red as a way to bring attention to the problem of heart disease in women. Many women wear red dresses, the identifying symbol for the day. Health organizations hold seminars and public outreach events to educate people about prevention and screening of heart disease.

Heart Disease in Women - Facts and Statistics ACLS.net
Jan 3, 2019

Heart Disease

According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. For some people, this may come as a surprise as heart disease particularly heart attacks have traditionally been associated with men. Heart attacks in women are not uncommon but they may ignore the signs which are sometimes different from those that occur in men. This is one of the reasons why heart disease causes increased mortality in women. Since women do not recognize the signs of a heart attack for what they are, they are less likely to seek emergency medical care and the condition often goes unrecognized and undiagnosed. To avoid this, women must know and understand the significant symptoms that may help them identify the occurence of heart attack.

Recognizing the Signs

Like men, women also suffer chest pain, but there are other signs that are not typically thought of in terms of the heart. These symptoms include shortness of breath; discomfort in one's neck, abdomen, shoulder or upper back; nausea, dizziness or light-headedness; and body malaise. When these symptoms are not being assessed and managed, emergency care should be sought.

Heart Disease in Women: Understand Symptoms and Risk Factors: The link opens a page on the Mayo Clinic website that lists heart attack symptoms and risk factors for women and ways in which heart disease risk can be reduced.

Heart Disease Often Undiagnosed in Women: This is an ABC news article that discusses why heart disease in women often goes undiagnosed.

Women should also recognize what the risk factors are. This goes a long way in preventing heart disease. Common risk factors for women include smoking, stress and a condition known as Metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that increases the risk of developing heart problems and other serious health problems. These conditions include abdominal obesity, increased levels of triglycerides in the blood, low levels of HDL, hyperglycemia and hypertension.

Steps for Prevention

Preventing heart disease in women involves taking the right steps depending on individual circumstances. For example, maintaining a healthy blood pressure, reducing high levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, decreasing one's weight from unhealthy levels, and discontinuing smoking . Removing saturated fat and cholesterol from diet and adding omega-3 fatty acids, often found in fish, is also important. Women with diabetes can reduce their risk of a heart attack by keeping their blood sugar within normal levels. At least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and physical activity per day is recommended for women who are aiming for a healthy heart. Medical solutions for women with established risk factors for heart disease may include regular use of aspirin, lipid-lowering agents and a blood thinner called warfarin for those who are at increased risk of blood clot development.